Attorney General v St John's Hospital, Bedford
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 03 July 1865 |
| Date | 03 July 1865 |
| Court | High Court of Chancery |
English Reports Citation: 46 E.R. 516
BEFORE THE LORDS JUSTICES.
S. C. 34 L. J. Ch. 441; 12 L. T. 714; 11 Jur. (N. S.), 629; 13 W. R. 955.
[621] the attorney-general v. st. john's hospital, Bedford. Before the Lords Justices. Feb. 25, 27, 28, July 3, 1865. [S. C. 34 L. J. Ch. 441 ; 12 L. T. 714 ; 11 Jur. (N. S.), 629 ; 13 W. R. 955.] The jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery over the property of corporations affected! with a trust applies to purely ecclesiastical as well as to lay corporations. Where by the charter of foundation of a charity the property of the charity was- directed to be applied for the benefit of the poor, the Court enforced the trust, although for several centuries certain fixed payments only had been made to the poor and the surplus rents had been enjoyed by the master. But where a municipal corporation had for more than three centuries exercised the right of presentation to the mastership of a charity for their own benefit, without acknowledgment of any trust, the Court refused to declare that the right of presentation was affected with a trust for the charity. The information in this case was filed against the master and co-brethren of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, Bedford, the Reverend Henry Pearse, the master of the hospital and rector of the parish of St. John the Baptist, and the mayor, aldermen and burgesses of Bedford, in whom the presentation to the mastership and rectory was vested, praying for a declaration that the lands held by the master were subject to a charitable trust, and that no part of them belonged to the rectory of St. John's, Bedford ; for a scheme for the better administration of the property, having regard to-the poor of the town of Bedford, and for the better application of the rents of the-property. IDEChJ.SS.. ATTORNEY-GENERAL V. ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL 517 The Master of the Rolls, before whom the information was heard, made a decree, declaring ^-1. That the pro-[622]-perty of the hospital was impressed with a charitable trust; 2. That the Defendants, the Corporation of Bedford, had no power to dispose of the right of presentation to the mastership of the hospital; 3. That a scheme for the administration of the trust property should be settled. (The case is reported 12 W. R. 1045.) The hospital appears to have been founded in the reign of Henry II., but all the earlier documents relating to it are lost. The most important of them was a charter of endowment by Robert de Parys, a copy of which exists in an ancient book of memoranda at Lincoln, dated the 23d January 1400. The charter as there transcribed is as follows:- "Memorandum quod Anno Domini DCCCCmo., octagesimo, Robertus de Parys, Fundator Novi Hospitalis Sancti Johannis Baptist* in villa Bedford ad declaracionem status ejusdem Hospitalis in futurum vult et ordinat quatenus in se est, quod in dicto Hospitali sint duo vel tres Fratres secundum facultatem dicti Hospitalis quorum magis proveetus teneat locum Magistri. Qui Fratres simul dicant matutinas et alias horas canonicas et celebrent officia divina pro vivis et pro mortuis singulis diebus secundum statum dieti Hospitalis; et simul eeiam comedant in aula et jaceant in Dormitoriis et deferant vesturam honestam et tonsuram presbiteralem cum uno mantello de panno nigro vel de ailo colore honesto secundum disposicionem Magistri. Qui eeiam Fratres in ingressu suo jurabunt obedientiam Magistro praedicto, et quod stabunt in eodem Hospitali ad terminum vitae suaa psallentes et orantes pro aiiima dicti Roberti de Parys Fundatoris, et pro animabus Johannis et Henrici de Sancto Johanne, et Johatmis nepotis ac eeiam (1 eorum) qui redditus vel possessiones eidem Hospitali dederunt, seu dabunt in futurum. Vult eeiam [623] et ordinat pnedietus Fundator quod omnes inopes qui sant de libera procreacione prsedictse villas in qua idem Hospitale situatur, si ad illam inopiam per infortunium et absque eulpa sua devenerint, et petant sustentacionem, caritatemve, in eadem domo recipiantur per magistrum et eonfratres, universis iuopibus extra villam Bedfordise procreatis omnino repulais. Nee licebit Majori nee Ballivis Bedford nee Burgensibus ejusdem villee aliquem inopem ad dictum Hospitale prsssentare priusquam mini seu successoribus meis luerit prsesentatus, et cum voluntate mea vel successorum meorum erit recipi-endus. Et quod omnes excessus eorumdem fratrum, intra septa Hospitalis pradicti commissi vel extra, corrigantur et puniaiitur per magistrum prsedictum. Et si fratres in correccione pradicta rebellea inventi fuerint per episcopum corrigantur. Vult eeiam et ordinat prsedictus Fundator quod ad omnes articulos supra-scriptos tenendos et firraiter observandos quilibet frater in ingressu, suo prsestet juramentum corporale. Et eeiam vult et ordinat pradictus Fundator quod copia istius ordinacionis pro iiifortunio incendii, vel alio quocumque, remaneat in communi cista villas praedictae et irrotulatur penes Majorem et Ballivos qui sunt et pro tempore future erunt, ad majorem hujua rei securitatem. Et ad omnia et singula in ista ordinacione contents. et firmiter tenenda prsasentibus sigillum meum est appensum." The authenticity of the date at the head of this charter was questioned ; and the Master of the Rolls was of opinion that the charter was an authentic document, but that the date had been erroneously altered by the copyist from 1280, which His Honour considered to be the correct date, to 980. The constitution and history of the hospital and the circumstances which gave rise to the present contention [624] will most conveniently appear from the following statement of them in the judgment of the Master of the Rolls :- " According to this document the hospital was endowed and established for the suppoit of two or three brethren, of whom the more advanced was to be the master, and also for the relief of freeborn inhabitants of the town of Bedford in needy circumstances, to be presented to them for that purpose. It provides for their mode of living and their dress. It appears, however, by this document that although Robert de Parys is styled Fundator novi Hospitalis three other persons had endowed the hospital with possessions, who were all dead. It appears also by documents, to which I have already referred, that in truth it had been founded in the reign of Henry H., but I cannot, I think, allow this circumstance to destroy the statement made in the charter or the unavoidable inference to be drawn from it. Robert de Parys had the power to declare what were the objects for which the hospital was 518 ATTORNEY-GENERAL V. ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL 1 DEO. J. ft B. 6M. founded, and the laws by which it was to be regulated. Proceeding on this conclusion, and considering this to be a correct account of the objects of the original foundation, it follows that if the charter has not been lawfully superseded by any subsequent act or proceeding the whole hospital...
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